I think we’ve all be inspired by movies like “Pay It Forward”, but many times don’t think that we can have that kind of large scale impact on our country or world. The reality is that when you combine passion with perseverance, we are capable of much more than we ever dreamed.

And the same goes for our kids. Over the course of the past month on Kidzmet, we set out to offer kids a step-by-step guide to honing in on a personal mission statement and how to begin sharing that mission and infectious enthusiasm with their communities, countries and even our world.

When kids start to reveal new findings rather than report on what’s already been discovered…

When they start to self-direct learning based on their own personal passions…

When they start to realize that it’s not a *single* type of intelligence that’s needed to be successful in pretty much any career you can think of, but a *puree* of several—if not all—of the multiple intelligences used in concert with each other…

That’s when learning truly has the potential to become fun and exciting for kids.

Backyard Bug Banquet

Use your child’s gifts for observation and analysis and use your backyard or nearby park as a math & science lab. One way Deborah Churchman of American Forests suggests is to mix overripe fruit and honey in a blender, then go outside at sunset and spread the mixture on a few trees.

Go back with a flashlight with your child when it’s dark and see what creatures are feasting on your backyard banquet.

Try it with a different combination of fruit and sweetener (agave nectar, sugar, molasses) on a different night.

Which one attracted more bugs? Were certain insects drawn to one more than the other?

Did your child enjoy this activity?Let ‘em get a closer look with the Bug Biter live insect catch-and-release trapper. Simply place the see-through bug chamber over a bug and pull the lever to catch anything that moves. Watch the Bug Biter’s mondo mandibles “chew” as you safely and humanely capture your bug! Great for moms who don’t like bugs, or bug-hunting kids who love them.

Below, we’ve compiled our favorite 10 language arts activities we’ve featured over the summer (as well as our Summer Reading Lists) to make sure your child gets in gear ahead of time and practices some of the concepts that they learned last year—in a FUN way—below. (That is, if your school follows the Core Standards.)

Paint by Part of Speech – or make up a new “legend” based on grade level standards (e.g. long and short a-e-i-o-u in words)